Deborah Bybee

Fidelity Criteria: Development, Measurement, and Validation

Fidelity may be defined as the extent to which delivery of an intervention adheres to the protocol or program model originally developed. Fidelity measurement has increasing significance for evaluation, treatment effectiveness research, and service administration. Yet few published studies using fidelity criteria provide details on the construction of a valid fidelity index. The purpose of this review article is to outline steps in the development, measurement, and validation of fidelity criteria, providing examples from health and education literatures. We further identify important issues in conducting each step. Finally, we raise questions about the dynamic nature of fidelity criteria, appropriate validation and statistical analysis methods, the inclusion of structure and process criteria in fidelity assessment, and the role of program theory in deciding on the balance between adaptation versus exact replication of model programs. Further attention to the use and refinement of fidelity criteria is important to evaluation practice.

Reducing violence using community-based advocacy for women with abusive partners

An intensive community-based advocacy intervention was designed and evaluated by randomly assigning 278 battered women to an experimental or control condition. Participants were interviewed 6 times over a period of 2 years. Retention rate averaged 95% over the 2 years. The 10-week postshelter intervention involved providing trained advocates to work 1-on-1 with women, helping generate and access the community resources they needed to reduce their risk of future violence from their abusive partners. Women who worked with advocates experienced less violence over time, reported higher quality of life and social support, and had less difficulty obtaining community resources. More than twice as many women receiving advocacy services experienced no violence across the 2 years postintervention compared with women who did not receive such services.

Possible selves as roadmaps

Abstract Possible selves, expectations, and concerns about the coming year, can promote feeling good (“I may not be doing well in school this year, but I will next year.”) or can promote regulating for oneself (“I may not be doing well in school this year, but to make sure I do better next year, I have signed up for summer tutoring.”). We hypothesized that improved academic outcomes were likely only when a possible self could plausibly be a self-regulator. Hierarchical regression analyses supported this conclusion, with more support for the influence of self-regulation on change in behavior and academic outcomes than on affect regulation. N =160 low-income eighth graders improved grades, spent more time doing homework, participated in class more, and were referred less to summer school (controlling for fall grades and the dependent variable of interest) when academic possible selves were plausibly self-regulatory.

When Ending the Relationship Does Not End the Violence Women's Experiences of Violence by Former Partners

Much of the existing research on intimate male violence against women has focused on the prevalence of and response to abuse that occurs within an ongoing intimate relationship. Little attention has been paid to the abuse that occurs after women have ended abusive relationships. In the current study, women leaving a shelter for women with abusive partners were interviewed across 2 years. More than one third of the women were assaulted by a former partner during the time of the study. Several factors under the control of the batterer were found to be related to ex-partner assaults, including his prior violence, threats, and sexual suspicion. Several factors under partial control of the survivor were also explored and were found to be less strongly related to violence by an ex-partner. Implications for improving the community response to women with abusive partners and ex-partners are discussed.

The co-occurrence of childhood sexual abuse, adult sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and sexual harassment: a mediational model of posttraumatic stress disorder and physical health outcomes.

This study examined the co-occurrence of childhood sexual abuse, adult sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and sexual harassment in a predominantly African American sample of 268 female veterans, randomly sampled from an urban Veterans Affairs hospital womens clinic. A combination of hierarchical and iterative cluster analysis was used to identify 4 patterns of womens lifetime experiences of violence co-occurrence. The 1st cluster experienced relatively low levels of all 4 forms of violence; the 2nd group, high levels of all 4 forms; the 3rd, sexual revictimization across the lifespan with adult sexual harassment; and the 4th, high intimate partner violence with sexual harassment. This cluster solution was validated in a theoretically driven model that examined the role of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a mediator of physical health symptomatology. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that PTSD fully mediated the relationship between violence and physical health symptomatology. Consistent with a bio-psycho-immunologic theoretical model, PTSD levels more strongly predicted pain-related physical health symptoms compared to nonpain health problems. Implications for clinical interventions to prevent PTSD and to screen women for histories of violence in health care settings are discussed.

Can racial identity be promotive of academic efficacy

We hypothesised a gender specific relationship between efficacy and three components of racial identity, feeling that achievement is part of being black, feeling connected to the black community, and sensitivity to, awareness of outgroup barriers and racism. Because male gender socialisation downplays relationality, the “connectedness” component of racial identity was posited to be particularly helpful for boys. Because female gender socialisation downplays independent achievement and agency, the “achievement” component of racial identity was posited to be particularly helpful for girls in buffering the negative effects of the “awareness of racism” component. Controlling for fall grades and academic efficacy, fall racial identity significantly predicted spring academic efficacy differentially for boys and girls (n = 91 African-American eighth graders), with the lack of the achievement component of racial identity being particularly detrimental to girls.

The process through which an advocacy intervention resulted in positive change for battered women over time.

A prior experimental evaluation of a community-based advocacy program for women with abusive partners demonstrated positive change in the lives of women even 2 years postintervention (C. M. Sullivan & D. I. Bybee, 1999). The current study explored the complex mediational process through which this change occurred, using longitudinal structural equation modeling and formal tests of mediation. As hypothesized, the advocacy intervention first resulted in women successfully obtaining desired community resources and increasing their social support, which enhanced their overall quality of life. This improvement in well-being appeared to serve as a protective factor from subsequent abuse, as women who received the intervention were significantly less likely to be abused at 2-year follow-up compared with women in the control condition. Increased quality of life completely mediated the impact of the advocacy intervention on later reabuse. Discussion places advocacy for women in the context of other efforts that are needed to build an effective community response to preventing intimate violence against women.

Development of the Scale of Economic Abuse

Economic abuse is part of the pattern of behaviors used by batterers to maintain power and control over their partners. However, no measure of economic abuse exists. This study describes the development of the Scale of Economic Abuse, which was designed to fill this gap. Interviews were conducted with 103 survivors of domestic abuse, each of whom responded to measures of economic, physical, and psychological abuse as well as economic hardship. Results provide evidence for the reliability and validity of the scale. This study is an important first step toward understanding the extent and impact of economic abuse experienced by survivors.

The Impact of Family and Friends’ Reactions on the Well-Being of Women With Abusive Partners

This study examined the degree to which battered women talked with family and friends about abuse they were experiencing and how family and friends responded. Participants were 137 women who had recently experienced domestic violence and were exiting a shelter. Most women confided in family and friends about the abuse. Family and friends’ reactions depended on contextual factors, including the woman’s relationship with her assailant, number of separations, number of children, and whether family and friends were threatened. Family and friends’ negative reactions and offers of tangible support were significantly related to women’s well-being, although positive emotional support was not.

Beyond Bruises and Broken Bones: The Joint Effects of Stress and Injuries on Battered Women's Health

We investigated the joint mediating effects of injuries and stress on the relationship between abuse and womens health. A community sample of 397 women, half of whom had been assaulted by an intimate partner within the prior 6 months, was interviewed about their experience of intimate partner violence, injuries, stress, income, depression, and physical health problems. Structural equation modeling techniques confirmed the complex model of hypothesized indirect effects of abuse on womens physical health problems through injuries, stress, and depression. Stress accounted for 80% of the indirect effect of abuse on womens physical health. Its direct effect on physical health was somewhat larger than its indirect effect through depression, but both processes played a key role in determining the effect of abuse on womens physical health problems. Furthermore, abuse was a stronger predictor of womens stress than was poverty. Implication and future research are discussed.